| Thu, May 23 7:45PM (NZ) |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
This website is now dedicated to covering the Black Bullets. Current Black Bullets news is now provided on iSportz » with past news archived here for your continued reference.
Stone Brothers Racing has posted a strong result in the opening race of the Gulf Air Desert 400 in Bahrain with both BF Falcons finishing inside the top seven.
JELD-WEN Motorsport's James Courtney put in a great drive to finish fifth with team-mate Shane van Gisbergen was not far behind, crossing the line in seventh place.
Courtney started from tenth on the grid and was quick to show his intentions, hustling his way through to sixth before entering the pits for his compulsory stop on lap nine.
Although the stop was smooth, Courtney lost out two laps later when the safety car was deployed but failed to pick up the race leader and confusion reigned over the correct race order.
At the restart on lap 16, Courtney found himself back in ninth as other cars jumped the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon due to the safety car period.
However it wasn't long until Courtney regained his rightful position, pushing his way to fifth by lap 21 and picking up fourth after Todd Kelly received a pit lane penalty for passing the safety car.
Courtney entered into a battle with old team-mate Russell Ingall late in the race, the pair swapping positions a number of times. It was Ingall that grabbed the honours at the flag, claiming fourth with Courtney in fifth.
Van Gisbergen was equally impressive in the 32-lap race, making a steady start from 13th on the grid, holding his own to be in 11th before his pit stop on lap 12.
The SP Tools Racing driver was 12th at the safety car restart following his stop and raced his way to ninth by lap 18.
The final 15 laps of the race saw van Gisbergen locked in a battle with Steven Johnson, Paul Morris and Steven Richards.
The 19-year-old got the better of the latter two, crossing the line in seventh behind Johnson.
Earlier in the day, Courtney and van Gisbergen had a tough qualifying session, both struggling to perfect the set-up on their BF Ford Falcons during the three-leg elimination style session.
While the SP Tools Racing and JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcons made the top 20 with ease, the second 15-minute leg proved more difficult, both cars using their last set of green tyres in an effort to make the top ten.
Courtney succeeded, scraping in with the tenth fastest time while van Gisbergen had to settle for 13th fastest.
The third and final session threw more difficulties at the JELD-WEN Motorsport crew, with Courtney complaining that the SBR Falcon was pulling to the left on his out lap. The ensuing stop chewed up much of the 10-minute session and when Courtney re-emerged on a different set of tyres he had one chance to post a time but was unable to improve on tenth position.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport and SP Tools Racing Falcons will take part in races two and three tomorrow at the Bahrain International Circuit, at 11:00am and 3:35pm respectively.
The V8 Supercar action will be televised in Australia on Saturday at 10:30pm and Sunday at 2:00pm.
James Courtney, #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon
"That was a good race for us; I had a good start and a good car and from where we qualified, fifth was a good result.
"We suffered from under steer a bit after the stop but I don't think that was any different from anyone else.
"We've got a great position to start from tomorrow.
"After some pretty boring races at Indy it was great to mix it up with each other.
"I had a great race with Russell; I've been up to see him and we've been laughing for the last ten minutes about all the moves."
Shane van Gisbergen, #9, SP Tools Racing Falcon
"That was awesome fun racing with (Steven) Johnson, (Paul) Morris and (Steven) Richards.
"The SP Tools Racing Falcon was good and this circuit is so wide; it's great to race on.
"I thought it was going to get even more exciting in front of me with Johnson and Morris at one stage. It looked like I might get a couple of spots if they fired each other off.
"Qualifying today was okay; but it makes it so much easier once you get inside the top ten.
"We've got there in the race today and hopefully it will set us up nicely for the rest of the weekend."
Race 1
1. Jamie Whincup
2. Craig Lowndes
3. Lee Holdsworth
4. Russell Ingall
5. James Courtney
6. Steven Johnson
7. Shane Van Gisbergen
8. Steven Richards
9. Rick Kelly
10. Greg Murphy
Qualifying
1. Jamie Whincup 1:25.0415
2. Craig Lowndes 1:25.0624
3. Todd Kelly 1:25.1556
4. Steven Johnson 1:25.3874
5. Garth Tander 1:25.4116
6. Will Davison 1:25.4481
7. Russell Ingall 1:25.4736
8. Steven Richards 1:25.5114
9. Mark Winterbottom 1:25.5967
10. James Courtney 1:25.7556
13. Shane Van Gisbergen 1:25.6020
|
The views, opinions and content displayed on this webpage are not necessarily those of Pacific Motorsport Limited. Pacific Motorsport Limited takes no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Proud to promote ..
|
|
|
|
